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PART I Background of the Subject Literature A. Definitions. The Oxford English dictionary defines jazz as "lively, sophisticated, unconventional American music characterized by its use of improvisation, syncopated phrasing, a regular or forceful rhythm, often in common time, and a 'swinging' quality." Encyclopedia Brittanica describes jazz as a "musical form, often improvisational, developed by African Americans and influenced by both European harmonic structure and African rhythms. It was developed partially from ragtime and blues and is often characterized by syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, varying degrees of improvisation and often deliberate deviations of pitch." Wikipedia notes that "Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. It has been called the first original art form to develop in the United States of America, with roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. After originating in African American communities near the beginning of the 20th century, jazz gained international popularity by the 1920s. Since then, jazz has had a profoundly pervasive influence on other musical styles worldwide. Today, various jazz styles continue to evolve." According to Pulitzer Prize-winning African American composer and classical and jazz trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis: "Jazz is something Negroes invented, and it said the most profound things -- not only about us and the way we look at things, but about what modern democratic life is really about. It is the nobility of the race put into sound ... jazz has all the elements, from the spare and penetrating to the complex and enveloping. It is the hardest music to play that I know of, and it is the highest rendition of individual emotion in the history of Western music." Jazz should not be defined only by what it is, but what it does - how it affects in an intensely personal way the performer, and the profound effect it has on moving, agitating, and lifting the listener. The New Grove Dictionary of American Music describes this as the players not merely reproducing prescribed notes: "They participate in a sort of ceremony in which they interact with the audience and on another, somewhat as a preacher interacts with the congregation at a "sanctified" church (pg. 535). " A more clinical definition of jazz from Groves is the "fusion of ragtime, blues, and popular music by black musicians"(pg. 537). What ever the definition, the experience of jazz is one that must be heard and felt to be appreciated. |